The mortician that was trying to cope with the pungent stench from the monstrosity of the cadaver and carcass said that the misery index of death was so vile it was like septic flesh and could only leave an obituary in flames.

If a nurse or other professional comes into your room to change a dressing or do anything to a wound, change a catheter, or in essence perform any kind of function that results in stuff going inside your body, tell them to wash their hands first, before they touch you.

I had no idea bacteria cause nightmares. I thought it was the work of sexy demons like Incubi and Succubi.

Live and learn.

It does make sense though, because if you eat a lot of nasty junk food before bed, or even a nice cheese, you get nightmares.

Yogurt doesn't seem to cause nightmares. Must be the friendly pro-health bacteria in the yoghurt.

When I need to go to the bathroom when I am asleep, I dream of filthy toilets or else that I am naked except for maybe a pajama top or something. This is my early warning dream system telling, wake the Hell up and go to the bathroom.

If you have children who are wetting the bed, tell them to dream about places they can't pee to wake themselves up. Let me know if it works. I think it might help program the part of their brain that stands guard during sleep. The brain thinks in metaphors. It doesn't do similes very well as far as I can tell.

brantgoose: I had no idea bacteria cause nightmares. I thought it was the work of sexy demons like Incubi and Succubi.

Live and learn.

It does make sense though, because if you eat a lot of nasty junk food before bed, or even a nice cheese, you get nightmares.

Yogurt doesn't seem to cause nightmares. Must be the friendly pro-health bacteria in the yoghurt.

When I need to go to the bathroom when I am asleep, I dream of filthy toilets or else that I am naked except for maybe a pajama top or something. This is my early warning dream system telling, wake the Hell up and go to the bathroom.

If you have children who are wetting the bed, tell them to dream about places they can't pee to wake themselves up. Let me know if it works. I think it might help program the part of their brain that stands guard during sleep. The brain thinks in metaphors. It doesn't do similes very well as far as I can tell.

Ryker's Peninsula:The mortician that was trying to cope with the pungent stench from the monstrosity of the cadaver and carcass said that the misery index of death was so vile it was like septic flesh and could only leave an obituary in flames.

Znuh:If a nurse or other professional comes into your room to change a dressing or do anything to a wound, change a catheter, or in essence perform any kind of function that results in stuff going inside your body, tell them to wash their hands first, before they touch you.

This is so lax that it's shocking.

Wash your damn hands.

That is a sterile procedure, I've seen it done dozens and dozens of times, always with sterile gloves. Although they aren't "changed" very often, but they do get inserted. These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

Once credited as a "hero" for discovering penicillin in 1928, Fleming is nowrecognized as the "Father of the Superbug" that will KILL US ALL!

/Tune in//Turn on//Drop dead

It's not his fault. Blame people who go to the doctor for the flu or a runny nose and just have to have "a shot"; and the quack doctors who give them one knowing full well that penicillin does nothing for viruses.

Seriously, the US needs to expropriate a large and high tech R&D facility from one of the major drug manufacturers at the public's expense and have government researchers with NIH developing new antibiotics. There's no excuse for the fact that there are no new antibiotics in production. Either subsidize it heavily or do it yourself if you're the government. You don't just ignore the problem.

Gyrfalcon:It's not his fault. Blame people who go to the doctor for the flu or a runny nose and just have to have "a shot"; and the quack doctors who give them one knowing full well that penicillin does nothing for viruses.

Once credited as a "hero" for discovering penicillin in 1928, Fleming is nowrecognized as the "Father of the Superbug" that will KILL US ALL!

/Tune in//Turn on//Drop dead

It's not his fault. Blame people who go to the doctor for the flu or a runny nose and just have to have "a shot"; and the quack doctors who give them one knowing full well that penicillin does nothing for viruses.

That's what placebos are for.

The pathway to hell... etc.

And to think that for all those years we pointed the FINGER at Fermi and Oppenheimer.

Ivo Shandor:Gyrfalcon: It's not his fault. Blame people who go to the doctor for the flu or a runny nose and just have to have "a shot"; and the quack doctors who give them one knowing full well that penicillin does nothing for viruses.

Don't forget about the agricultural industry's contribution.

Same theory, really. "Let's give these cows lots of antibiotics to keep them from getting sick! That can't possibly cause any problems! Right doc?"

Mark Ratner:The bacteria have become self-aware. Everybody panic!!, or just wash your hands after you pee and you'll be fine.

I have always wondered about that one. My johnson has been hanging out in clean underwear all day long. My hands have been typing on a keyboard that hasn't been cleaned since the Reagan Administration. Wouldn't it make more sense to wash my hands before I pee?

Medic Zero:That is a sterile procedure, I've seen it done dozens and dozens of times, always with sterile gloves. Although they aren't "changed" very often, but they do get inserted. These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

Oh, the fun part comes in with central lines.

If a physician inserts one in an emergency without putting on a mask and hair cap, it has to be pulled within 8 - 12 hours depending on the facility and a new one inserted.

You have to have written physician justification and review after each shift as to why the patient needs to keep a central line.

Dressing changes are a highly sterile procedure, they make our nurses sterile gown, mask, and net up when doing it.

I do not envy, or want the job of a PICC/Vascular nurse. If I had to do hours of dressing changes every shift, I'd go insane.

We've had a treatment for these things for a century now. They're called bacteriophages and they work much better than antibiotics. Sadly, the drug companies can't make money off of them so they'd rather just let thousands of people die while they search for a more profitable cure.

Scythed:We've had a treatment for these things for a century now. They're called bacteriophages and they work much better than antibiotics. Sadly, the drug companies can't make money off of them so they'd rather just let thousands of people die while they search for a more profitable cure.

No, the problem is that each phage strain is specific to an individual bacterial strain, and are absolutely useless in multi-organism infections and time-critical sepsis where the delay to wait on a C&S might cause a patient's death. You have to determine what is causing the infection, deliver the phage to that source of the infection without provoking an immune response, and then effectively do so in concentrations which kills the bacteria. The Soviets did a LOT of research during the cold war on phage therapy, and the introduction of a foreign antigenic substance poses the risk of provoking further immune response as well. In addition to this, some phages impart increased pathogenicity or toxicity to certain bacterial strains, like the EHC-Toxin gene for E. Coli.

And that's ignoring the fact that there's a reason some antibiotics are bacteriostatic and not bacteriocidal. It's generally a bad idea to cause mass cell lysis of Gram Positive organisms, like Staphylococcus, due to enterotoxins.

Scythed:We've had a treatment for these things for a century now. They're called bacteriophages and they work much better than antibiotics. Sadly, the drug companies can't make money off of them so they'd rather just let thousands of people die while they search for a more profitable cure.

Low Budget Dave:Mark Ratner: The bacteria have become self-aware. Everybody panic!!, or just wash your hands after you pee and you'll be fine.

I have always wondered about that one. My johnson has been hanging out in clean underwear all day long. My hands have been typing on a keyboard that hasn't been cleaned since the Reagan Administration. Wouldn't it make more sense to wash my hands before I pee?

Clean underwear, you say? Even fresh from the laundry, your johnson has been sitting in what amounts to a warm petri dish with a healthy serving of fecal matter brewing a nasty buffet of awesome band names. If you are in fact worried about the cleanliness of your keyboard, just pee on it before you type.

Medic Zero:That is a sterile procedure, I've seen it done dozens and dozens of times, always with sterile gloves. Although they aren't "changed" very often, but they do get inserted. These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

Zounds. What worries me is that the CDC have established new procedures for this, and how the rest of the Hospital / Healthcare world seems to be responding in largely a 'meh' manner.

vsavatar:Seriously, the US needs to expropriate a large and high tech R&D facility from one of the major drug manufacturers at the public's expense and have government researchers with NIH developing new antibiotics. There's no excuse for the fact that there are no new antibiotics in production.

Actually, there are at least two.

First, the "easy" antibiotic discoveries have pretty much all been made. There are a lot of obvious compounds that will kill bacteria, but not a helluva lot of those which won't also kill humans at the same time. We went past the simple ones like penicillin and streptomycin, and any new antibiotics will have to be a whole new mechanism.

Second, the good old FDA is in the way (as usual). You see, antibiotic discoveries now are working under a different set of rules than in the good old days of penicillin and the like. You don't create a new drug to treat "all cases involving S. pneumoniae" - you have to get it approved to treat one particular set of symptoms (pneumonia, for example), and have to get a different approval for different symptom sets (like Pneumococcus causing meningitis).

Either subsidize it heavily or do it yourself if you're the government. You don't just ignore the problem.

...or you could relax some of those rules, and approve antibiotics for fighting particular organisms, instead of very specific diseases. You might note that most of the major drug companies already have co-op setups with each other for researching antibiotics - one such is part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

There's also a lot of government-funded antibiotic research, which is fighting the same technical problem that the drug companies are having to deal with: it's just not that easy to do. It's going to take someone working in some new direction to come up with the next new antibiotic family - and large, government-controlled teams are pretty weak at the whole "new and original inspiration" thing...

It's really interesting that you think the government should "expropriate" a facility from someone. Why? They have a whole lot of empty buildings, and certainly have enough people on the payroll, to set their own lab up, instead of taking one from someone else. Why was that your first impulse?

Znuh:Medic Zero: That is a sterile procedure, I've seen it done dozens and dozens of times, always with sterile gloves. Although they aren't "changed" very often, but they do get inserted. These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

Zounds. What worries me is that the CDC have established new procedures for this, and how the rest of the Hospital / Healthcare world seems to be responding in largely a 'meh' manner.

It sounds bloody horrible to get. Wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Well, the good news is that if you're into kinky play, you get a LOT of prostate stimulation out of it.

Anyone herd of bacteriophage. Georgia ,part of the USSR had years of work done in this field.the USSR didn't get the western antibiotics in large amounts, good old USA didn't allow that.They did fairly well without them. Also they evolve and mutate as much as the bacteria so there is always one to use, just got to find it

hardinparamedic:Znuh: Medic Zero: That is a sterile procedure, I've seen it done dozens and dozens of times, always with sterile gloves. Although they aren't "changed" very often, but they do get inserted. These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

Zounds. What worries me is that the CDC have established new procedures for this, and how the rest of the Hospital / Healthcare world seems to be responding in largely a 'meh' manner.

It sounds bloody horrible to get. Wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Well, the good news is that if you're into kinky play, you get a LOT of prostate stimulation out of it.

Low Budget Dave:Mark Ratner: The bacteria have become self-aware. Everybody panic!!, or just wash your hands after you pee and you'll be fine.

I have always wondered about that one. My johnson has been hanging out in clean underwear all day long. My hands have been typing on a keyboard that hasn't been cleaned since the Reagan Administration. Wouldn't it make more sense to wash my hands before I pee?

Once credited as a "hero" for discovering penicillin in 1928, Fleming is nowrecognized as the "Father of the Superbug" that will KILL US ALL!

/Tune in//Turn on//Drop dead

It's not his fault. Blame people who go to the doctor for the flu or a runny nose and just have to have "a shot"; and the quack doctors who give them one knowing full well that penicillin does nothing for viruses.

While it is true that antibiotics don't fight off viruses, doctors sometimes have good reason for prescribing them for people with viruses. If the patient has a weak immune system, the antibiotics can help against further infection (against bacteria), even if they were diagnosed with a virus.

Coelacanth:My best friend had an heart operation awhile ago, but then he caught one of these superbugs. He almost bought it.

My dad had heart surgery in 2009 and had an infection later that year, and has had pneumonia four times since, plus some other things. I told his wife to ask about this when the first Fark article showed up a few days ago, and supposedly they did and he's 'clear' of it, but... I'm not convinced. They still don't know what's wrong with him (intestinal stuff on top of it).

I'm worried at this point he doesn't have much time left, but I live over an hour away and I'm taking classes four days a week. Sorry to go all personal in here, just... a lot on my mind and these articles aren't helping.

In fact, the first time I even realized it was a thing I was talking to a co-worker about a hookah bar opening in town. There were a lot of people against it since it involved smoking, but my co-worker thought I was talking about a titty bar - and he really didn't like that. (Christian neo-con).

When we got that misunderstanding straightened out, he really didn't have a problem with a hookah bar. He would never go there, but since it did't involve nekked wimmen he wasn't going to raise a stink about it.

Medic Zero:These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

'Taint just insurance companies, son.

"The most notable complication associated with indwelling urinary catheters is the development of nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs), known as catheter-associated UTIs (CAUTIs). Infections of the urinary tract associated with catheter use are significant not only due their high incidence and subsequent economic cost but also because of the severe sequelae that can result.CAUTIs, the most common type of nosocomial infection, account for over 1 million cases annually or over 40% of all nosocomial infections in hospitals and nursing homes and constitute 80% of all nosocomial UTIs."

hardinparamedic:It's generally a bad idea to cause mass cell lysis of Gram Positive organisms, like Staphylococcus, due to enterotoxins.

Hmmmm. Your current options include:

(a) "...Gram-negative organisms, like Klebsiella, due to endotoxins."; or(b) "...Gram-negative organisms, like enterohemorrhagic E. coli, due to release of verotoxins."; or even(b) "...Gram-positive organisms, like Staphylococcus, due to release of toxins"

It's just that you chose a weird combination of bacteria with a specific toxin that isn't usually a concern when it comes to consequences of using bacteriocidal antibiotics.

Ryker's Peninsula:The mortician that was trying to cope with the pungent stench from the monstrosity of the cadaver and carcass said that the misery index of death was so vile it was like septic flesh and could only leave an obituary in flames.

ladyfortuna:Coelacanth: My best friend had an heart operation awhile ago, but then he caught one of these superbugs. He almost bought it.

My dad had heart surgery in 2009 and had an infection later that year, and has had pneumonia four times since, plus some other things. I told his wife to ask about this when the first Fark article showed up a few days ago, and supposedly they did and he's 'clear' of it, but... I'm not convinced. They still don't know what's wrong with him (intestinal stuff on top of it).

I'm worried at this point he doesn't have much time left, but I live over an hour away and I'm taking classes four days a week. Sorry to go all personal in here, just... a lot on my mind and these articles aren't helping.

I went through a similar experience with my father before he died. To this day, I'm so glad that I made the 6.5 hour drive a couple of times & called him to talk (mostly listen) as much as possible. Listen to your intuition. If he is still sick or getting sicker & they don't know what's going on, that is not a good sign. But, let's hope that I'm wrong & you have plenty of time.

docmattic:hardinparamedic: It's generally a bad idea to cause mass cell lysis of Gram Positive organisms, like Staphylococcus, due to enterotoxins.

Hmmmm. Your current options include:

(a) "...Gram-negative organisms, like Klebsiella, due to endotoxins."; or(b) "...Gram-negative organisms, like enterohemorrhagic E. coli, due to release of verotoxins."; or even(b) "...Gram-positive organisms, like Staphylococcus, due to release of toxins"

It's just that you chose a weird combination of bacteria with a specific toxin that isn't usually a concern when it comes to consequences of using bacteriocidal antibiotics.

docmattic:Medic Zero: These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

'Taint just insurance companies, son.

"The most notable complication associated with indwelling urinary catheters is the development of nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs), known as catheter-associated UTIs (CAUTIs). Infections of the urinary tract associated with catheter use are significant not only due their high incidence and subsequent economic cost but also because of the severe sequelae that can result.CAUTIs, the most common type of nosocomial infection, account for over 1 million cases annually or over 40% of all nosocomial infections in hospitals and nursing homes and constitute 80% of all nosocomial UTIs."

Znuh:Medic Zero: That is a sterile procedure, I've seen it done dozens and dozens of times, always with sterile gloves. Although they aren't "changed" very often, but they do get inserted. These days you may get one inserted multiple times because insurance companies think that no one should have a catheter in anymore, so instead you get in and out caths multiple times.

Zounds. What worries me is that the CDC have established new procedures for this, and how the rest of the Hospital / Healthcare world seems to be responding in largely a 'meh' manner.

It sounds bloody horrible to get. Wouldn't wish it on anyone.

A hell of a lot of the nurses I work with are blase' about germs. It seems to mostly be the older ones, but also some of the middle aged moms. They seem to not believe in germs, when they aren't just plain burnt out.

Medic Zero:A hell of a lot of the nurses I work with are blase' about germs. It seems to mostly be the older ones, but also some of the middle aged moms. They seem to not believe in germs, when they aren't just plain burnt out.

That's terrifying. My Mom was a registered Nurse and Midwife in England. If you were caught not following proper sterile / sanitary procedures, you were brought up within an inch of your life. When we moved to the States, she had to have her gallbladder removed. The first thing that caught her eye was how none of the staff were washing their hands and following procedure.

Bacteria, viruses (virii?), when defeated don't go 'oh, okay, you won this round, guess we'll skip the next few chances to strike'. They're omnipresent. Relaxing a sterile/sanitary procedure is the ultimate in Russian roulette; why would any sane person do so?

And lastly, if I'm the one on the gurney, I don't even get to pull the trigger.

Mark Ratner: The bacteria have become self-aware. Everybody panic!!, or just wash your hands after you pee and you'll be fine.

If you are getting superbug on your hands from pissing, then it is too late for you. You've already got it.

I'm worried at this point he doesn't have much time left, but I live over an hour away and I'm taking classes four days a week. Sorry to go all personal in here, just... a lot on my mind and these articles aren't helping.

Spring break - use it. Even if he doesn't go for years, you won't regret spending the week with him.

A hell of a lot of the nurses I work with are blase' about germs. It seems to mostly be the older ones, but also some of the middle aged moms. They seem to not believe in germs, when they aren't just plain burnt out.

I'm not a nurse, but I tend to be blase' about germs. We are swimming in a sea of bacteria. Washing only decreases the amount for a short period of time. Most of it is harmless (if it wasn't we'd all be dead). Then again, I don't have much chance to get people sick sitting in my office making databases.

NotARocketScientist - I'm going up Friday actually, because break isn't till the 16th. Called today and he was supposed to have gone home, only it turns out he narrowly avoided congestive heart failure due to unknown cause of fluid retention. I can't really afford the trip (because food) but it's still worth it.

cirby:vsavatar:Seriously, the US needs to expropriate a large and high tech R&D facility from one of the major drug manufacturers at the public's expense and have government researchers with NIH developing new antibiotics. There's no excuse for the fact that there are no new antibiotics in production.

Actually, there are at least two.

First, the "easy" antibiotic discoveries have pretty much all been made. There are a lot of obvious compounds that will kill bacteria, but not a helluva lot of those which won't also kill humans at the same time. We went past the simple ones like penicillin and streptomycin, and any new antibiotics will have to be a whole new mechanism.

Second, the good old FDA is in the way (as usual). You see, antibiotic discoveries now are working under a different set of rules than in the good old days of penicillin and the like. You don't create a new drug to treat "all cases involving S. pneumoniae" - you have to get it approved to treat one particular set of symptoms (pneumonia, for example), and have to get a different approval for different symptom sets (like Pneumococcus causing meningitis).

Either subsidize it heavily or do it yourself if you're the government. You don't just ignore the problem.

...or you could relax some of those rules, and approve antibiotics for fighting particular organisms, instead of very specific diseases. You might note that most of the major drug companies already have co-op setups with each other for researching antibiotics - one such is part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

There's also a lot of government-funded antibiotic research, which is fighting the same technical problem that the drug companies are having to deal with: it's just not that easy to do. It's going to take someone working in some new direction to come up with the next new antibiotic family - and large, government-controlled teams are pretty weak at the whole "new and original inspiration" thing...

It's really interesting that you t ...

Time constraints. This is starting to become a major problem rather more quickly than it had been previously. A facility that's already operating would have most, if not all the equipment needed to get started much more quickly than starting from scratch. I don't know that we have a year and a half to wait to get a facility up and fully operational.